Is it normal to heavy flow in the period?

Hello, in this article we will share some information about heavy flow in period or during menstruation. Before we start our article you should have enough knowledge about the normal physiology of the menstrual cycle.

Various reasons cause heavy flow in periods, for example

• PCOS(Polycystic ovarian syndrome)
• Fibroids
• Polyps
• Endometritis
• PID (Pelvic inflammatory disease)

These are some common examples that cause heavy menstrual flow during periods. We will discuss them one by one in detail, so you can understand the pathophysiology behind these conditions.

What causes bleeding during the menstrual cycle?

As female riches in her teenage or puberty life menarche occurs, this leads to starting of the menstrual cycle, and then afterward it remains for every month until menopause.

What is menarche?

The appearance of first menstruation is called menarche. It appears around 12-13 years of age.

Due to environmental changes and modern lifestyle, it may occur before 12 years and sometimes it may get delay also.

What is menopause?

Menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menstruation. The age for menopause is around 45-50 years.

But due to various reasons and environmental changes range for menopause is reduced to 40-45 years, in rare cases, it can occur before 35 years also.

What is normal flow in the period?

For every woman, the normal menstrual cycle is different in duration and in blood loss volume also. So it is difficult to rule out theater your flow in period is normal or not.

But on average women lose around 30-40 mL of blood during the menstrual cycle, It may be sometimes 25mL in lower value and can be up to 80mL in higher volume.

If you want to know that your menstrual flow is normal or not, you have to observe the volume of blood you lose during each menstrual cycle for consistently 3-5 months.

This gives an idea about your normal blood loss during menstruation.

Another factor that plays a major role in normal flow is duration and consistency.

The average duration for normal menstrual flow is 4-5 days, and consistency is about once in 26-28 days. Here one thing you have to note its both these factors can be different in each woman.

What is abnormal flow in the period?

As we told above if you have observed your average blood loss during the menstrual cycle, you can easily evaluate abnormal flow during menses.

 

If you notice that menstrual flow is below your average flow then it is also abnormal.

And if your menstrual flow is above your average flow then it is also abnormal.

Also if it remains for longer days from an average and consistency is more about 2-3 times in a month, it is called abnormal menstrual flow.

What abnormality can be seen in menstrual flow?

There are so many conditions which cause abnormality like,

• Menorrhagia
• Metrorrhagia
• Menometrorrhagia

What is Menorrhagia?

Menorrhagia is defined as heavy blood flow during menstruation, the heavy flow may be in duration or it can be in blood loss volume.

For example, females having flow for 10-12 days instead of 4-5 days or females having heavy blood flow in volume for 4-5 days above an average.

These both condition is defined as menorrhagia.

What is Metrorrhagia?

Metrorrhagia is defined as irregular blood flow in menstruation, for example, a female having menses two times in 28 days of the cycle is called metrorrhagia.

What is Menometrorrhagia?

Menometrorrhagia is the combination of both above menstrual disorders. This consists of heavy bleeding with irregular intervals.

What causes heavy flow in the period?

As we give examples above, conditions like PCOS and others can cause heavy flow during periods. The uterus is one of the most important reproductive organs in the female reproductive system.

It consists three-layers

Endometrium:–  innermost layer of the uterus, made up of glandular cells & secretory glands.

Myometrium:-middle layer of the uterus made up of smooth muscle.

Perimetrium:- Outer serous layer of the uterus.

Progesterone is the hormone that ripes the endometrium for attachment of fertilized ovum, this ovum attaches with endometrium and grows throughout nine months of pregnancy.

But if fertilization does not occur and women do not conceive a pregnancy, endometrium gets shed of and menstruation occurs.

Defect in this process due to any reason can cause irregular menstruation and heavy bleeding in periods.

Conditions Which causes the heavy blood flow in the period are

PCOS(Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrom):-

PCOS is a condition that makes ovulation irregular and sometimes there is cyst formation which causes abnormality.

Due to delay in ovulation in PCOS, endometrium remains under influence of progesterone for a longer time. During this time endometrium becomes thicker and rich in blood supply and glands, when ovulation occurs after a longer time progesterone level falls down.

Due to sudden withdrawal of progesterone hormone, thicker endometrium starts shedding of and causes heavy flow in period.

Endometritis:-

It sounds different but sometimes endometritis can cause heavy bleeding. When endometrium growth occurs outside the uterine cavity it is called endometritis.

The most common sites for endometritis are

• Abdominal scar
• Episiotomy scar
• Ovaries
• Cervix
• Fallopian Tube
• Sometimes in the abdominal cavity.

These are some most common sites for the outside growth of the endometrium.

Other symptoms that indicate Endometrium Includes;

• Abdominal or Lower Abdominal pain
• Piya prism (Pain During Intercourse)
• Lower back pain
• Difficulty in bowel movements.

PID(Pelvic Inflammatory Disease):-

Any type of infection or inflammation due to the various organism is defined as a pelvic inflammatory disease. If you are diagnosed with PID, treatment should be started immediately without any delay.

Antibiotics and medication help to control this condition. It is caused by organisms that are transmitted through direct connection and intercourse.

PID may also cause heavy menstrual blood flow and abnormal uterine bleeding with abnormal vaginal discharge.

Polyps:-

Different types of polyps like uterine polyps or Polyps on the cervix cause abnormal bleeding during periods and on normal days also.

These are small growths around the cervix and the uterine area grows under the influence of high estrogen level and or any type of infection or other reason.

This causes heavy bleeding and sometimes spots also during the menstrual cycle.

Uterine Fibroids:-

Late in the 5th decade of life so many women suffer from fibroid in their life. Fibroids are not always cancerous but there are some chances that it may be a cancerous condition called sarcoma.

These uterine fibroids may also cause abnormality in menstruation and one of the reasons for heavy feeling during periods.

Various Cancers:-

If women suffer from any type of gynecological cancer like

• Uterine cancer
• Cervical cancer, etc.

This type of condition also produces heavy flow in the period.

Also you patient experience symptoms like

• Weight loss
• Anemia
• Damage to kidney
• Abnormal vaginal discharge
• Painful intercourse.

Different types of bleeding disorders may cause more blood loss during menstruation. Whenever the escape of blood occurs from any site or any part of the body, hemostatic changes occur and help to prevent blood loss.

But in some bleeding disorders, this mechanism does not work properly and fails to stop the escape of blood lead to heavy flow in menses.

Non-Hormonal Intra-Uterine Devices:-

Sometimes heavy menses are due to side-effect of non-hormonal intrauterine devices. It becomes normal after few months and less severe in nature.

Medication:-

If you use birth control pills and stop taking them, this also causes severe bleeding during the menstruation period.

And sometimes change in medication also cause this problem. But it becomes normal after some time and with the doctor’s advice.

Hormonal Causes:-

As we told above progesterone and estrogen play a major role in controlling the menstruation cycle. The imbalance of hormones in the female body can lead to conditions like abnormal bleeding.

Also if you are taking hormonal therapy there are chances that when you stop therapy it causes abnormal or heavy bleeding.

HPO Axis:-

The hypothalamus-pituitary ovarian axis is very famous, this axis is very important for the normal reproductive life cycle in women, any defect in the HPO axis can also cause this condition.

What to do in heavy flow during the period?

So many women who experience first-time heavy menses may become nervous and some of them get blank and unable to think what to do especially when it occurs in public.

If you suffering from this type of problem try to change pad, tampoons frequently in 1-2 hours. Also do not get panic and be calm if you are in public.

If the condition gets worse and worse in every menstrual cycle talk to the doctor and take medical advice for treatment.

Treatment for heavy flow in period

Treatments are always based on the type of problem and cause of heavy menses. Some condition can be treated with medication and some condition needs surgical treatments also.

Some of them can be treated with minor surgical procedures.

Outcome

Thanks for your precious time and reading this full article to the end. We hope this article helps you to clear your doubt regarding abnormal or heavy menses. If you have any queries regarding health or this topic or other topic, you can ask in the comments section.

We will try to solve your doubts regarding any medical condition. Also, stay tuned with us for more informative content.

FAQ Heavy Menses

Is heavy period flow a sign of improving metabolism?

Yes- Your periods may affect your metabolism, But heavy menses can also be due to some other medical conditions like DUB.

What things we do due to heavier flow in periods to avoid stain?

If you suffering from this type of problem try to change pad, tampoons frequently in 1-2 hours. Also do not get panic and be calm if you are in public.

Does Resner Plus tablets causes irregular periods or heavy bleeding?

Yes, there are chances that this cause heavy bleeding or irregular periods.

Does heavy flow came before periods?

In conditions like metrorrhagia and menometrorrhagia, you can get heavy flow before periods.